Buff Skills

"You four, go capture those three brats."

The masked captain ordered the three ninjas behind him.

He and the remaining two stayed where they were, preparing to deal with the Konoha Jonin who might be lurking nearby.

Cloud Ninjas had always been arrogant.

Even though two of their comrades were dead and several more had been injured, they still swaggered over to the three people warming themselves by the fire.

"Hey, Uchiha brat, hurry up and surrender."

One of them put a hand on Ryosuke, who was sitting on the outside.

But Ryosuke acted as if he hadn't heard, not moving at all.

"Are you scared stiff? Just take them away. I can't believe this mission turned out to be so easy."

The other two walked over to Miyuki and Sanhe.

But they were just as unresponsive as Ryosuke.

"Wait. Something's wrong."

The last man sensed something was amiss and immediately warned them.

But it was already too late.

Ryosuke, Sanhe, and Miyuki suddenly burst apart with a bang. A large net then dropped from the trees, trapping the three of them.

"It's a trap! Help us!"

The three men caught in the net struggled and called out for help.

"Hang on, I'll get you out. Huh? There's something wrong with this net. It's absorbing my chakra."

The fourth Cloud Ninja had just touched the net when he realized something was wrong.

But it was too late for him to pull away.

A kunai was already pressed against his throat.

"Please stay still."

Shisui revealed his Four-Tomoe Sharingan.

"Body Flicker Shisui?"

Only one member of the Uchiha Clan possessed the Four-Tomoe Sharingan: Shisui Uchiha.

The three Cloud Ninjas trapped in the net were just as shocked.

They couldn't believe their bad luck. On their very first raid, they'd run into the famous Body Flicker Shisui. Their hearts sank.

The net soon drained all four of their chakra, leaving them unable to move.

The masked captain had clearly noticed what was happening over here.

"Shisui Uchiha? Konoha really did send someone important."

As he spoke, he pulled off half the black veil covering his face, revealing a scarred lower half.

"Do you remember me? You killed three of my comrades in a battle once, and left me with this."

"I don't remember," Shisui replied calmly.

His dismissive attitude instantly enraged the man.

The man drew two short blades crackling with blue lightning from behind his back and charged at Shisui.

"I'll leave the other two to you."

After speaking, Shisui struck the Cloud Ninja beside him on the neck, knocking him unconscious, then engaged the Cloud Ninja Jonin.

Ryosuke and the others jumped down from a tree and charged at the remaining Cloud Ninjas.

"Leave that guy to me. I won't let him escape this time," Sanhe said, pointing at Kumasuke.

"What do you think, Ryosuke?" Miyuki didn't answer right away. Instead, she looked at Ryosuke.

"You two take him on. I'll handle the rest."

Ryosuke brought his kunai up in front of him and assumed a fighting stance.

"Okay." Miyuki agreed without hesitation.

The two Cloud Ninjas charged at them.

The Cloud Ninja Jonin's Lightning Blade clashed with Shisui's kunai.

"You're letting those three brats deal with my men? You're far too confident."

"They were the ones who killed your two men last time. I didn't lift a finger," Shisui said with a smile.

"What? Those three brats?"

The Cloud Ninja Jonin immediately realized something was wrong. He tried to look back toward the battlefield, but his body suddenly stiffened.

"You're fighting an Uchiha and still letting yourself get distracted? You're arrogant, all right. I'll send you to join your dead comrades."

Shisui's genjutsu had taken control of the Cloud Ninja Jonin's body.

Although the man realized what was happening, he was a Jonin himself and still had no way to resist Shisui's technique.

To his horror, the hand gripping his Lightning Blade slowly moved toward his own neck.

On the other side, Ryosuke opened with a Shadow Clone Technique and three Fire Release Ninjutsu.

The Cloud Ninja across from him sneered, broke through the flames, and charged at Ryosuke.

It seemed the Cloud Ninja had sent ninjas with particularly specialized skills this time.

Konoha Ninjas relied mainly on ninjutsu, while these Cloud Ninjas were especially good at countering it.

"Die, Uchiha brat!"

Lightning crackled around the Cloud Ninja's fist as he punched toward Ryosuke's stomach.

"I was hoping to make use of what you had left to offer, but it looks like that won't be possible now."

Ryosuke sighed and swiftly formed Hand Seals. Countless shadows took the shape of spears and pierced the Cloud Ninja's body.

There was no helping it. The man specialized in Nintaijutsu, so Ryosuke hadn't learned a single ninjutsu from him.

Still, it reminded Ryosuke that relying too much on ninjutsu worked against ordinary ninjas, but he'd be in trouble if he faced a Nintaijutsu expert like the Fourth Raikage.

[Ding! Congratulations, host. You killed an enemy and randomly plundered a ninjutsu: Lightning Release: Rampage.]

Hmm?

It was another ninjutsu Ryosuke had never heard of. He couldn't help trying it out.

Crackle, crackle.

Several blue arcs of lightning spread over Ryosuke's body. He felt strength surge through him.

"Wasn't that the technique the guy used just now? Could this be a kind of Nintaijutsu?"

Ryosuke tested Sonido again.

To his surprise, it only consumed 100 points of chakra this time, and his movement speed had increased dramatically.

This was a buff ninjutsu. It wasn't as powerful as the Raikage's Lightning Release: Lightning Armor, but it still had a lot of potential for Ryosuke to develop.

He was very satisfied.

He glanced toward the battle between Sanhe and Miyuki and raised an eyebrow. "I wonder how things are going over there."

He wasn't talking about the fight on Shisui's side, since that was already over.

He meant the fight his clone was having in the forest.

As it turned out, shortly after Shisui left, Ryosuke had thought of using a clone to deal with the enemies caught in the traps in the forest while they were setting them.

That way, he could make the most of the system.

[Ding! Congratulations, host. You completed Mission One: Kill three enemies. You have received 3,000 experience points.]

At the system's prompt, Ryosuke promptly dispelled the Clone Technique.

From the information he received through his clone, he learned that there were still two enemies left.

One of them was uninjured. He'd stayed behind to look after his comrade, who was in danger.

"Teacher Shisui, there are still enemies in the forest. I'll go take care of them."

Ryosuke called out to Shisui from a distance, then dashed into the forest.

Shisui paused in surprise, but said nothing.